Wednesday, August 3, 2016

The Best Cup of Coffee I Ever Had...

Philippians 4:12 -
I know how to live on almost nothing
or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation,
whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.

If you know me very well, you would know I don’t
really like the taste of coffee that much.I usually try to cover it up with way too much sugar and creamer or,
even better, I put in about a ¼ cup of flavored coffemate.True coffee connoisseurs are often appalled by
my coffee habits and snark, “Hey, would like some coffee with that sugar?”

Keeping all this in mind, you
will be surprised to learn about the best coffee I ever enjoyed. You might guess it was some expensive gourmet
blend from Starbucks or a hand roast blend out of the mountains of El Salvador
made with a French press. You would be
wrong. In fact, the best cup of coffee I
ever had was a cheap Kirkland brand “Breakfast Blend” from Costco made on my Keurig
at home. Even more surprising, it was
completely black with no sugar or cream added!

What made this cup of coffee so unique,
you ask? It came at the end of a special
week-long diet where I hadn’t had anything to drink except water—no milk, no
coffee, no coke or tea, nothing but water.
So by the end of the week, my taste buds were thrilled to encounter anything
besides H2O. All the flavors
and nuances of the coffee sprang to life in my mouth and danced on my tongue as
I marveled at the simple wonder of coffee like never before. I experience true joy in something I normally
take for granted.

We humans are so prone to take
things for granted. It’s part of our
fallen nature. We lose gratitude and
when we do, we are actually less fulfilled.
The trick to being satisfied in life is not having more and more. In a counterintuitive way, more stuff tends
to make us less fulfilled. No. The secret to being more fulfilled is
learning to be satisfied and grateful with what we have already.

Fasting is a spiritual exercise
that can strengthen our gratitude and contentment. Fasting has traditionally meant going without
food. However, fasting could also be
going without coffee or drinking only water or giving up something else like TV
or Facebook or watching the news for a set time. Such self-denial can accomplish some very
helpful traits. It could help you stop
taking simple blessings for granted and be more grateful. On the other hand, you might find you do not miss
what you gave up at all; in which case, you might be better off without it.

True joy and contentment in life
is not about having more and more, better and better. Joy and contentment most often come when you simplify
and learn to truly appreciate the blessings you have already. With intentional spiritual practice, you
could learn what the Apostle Paul discovered:
“…the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full
stomach or empty, with plenty or little.”
Of course, I’m no expert and I certainly don’t claim to know everything,
but that’s the Truth as far as I can tell…

Hi! I am a husband to an amazing woman, a father of three awesome kids, and a pastor of a loving church. My goal in life is to glorify God as I draw people closer to Christ with every breath and step I take.

About Me

Hi! I am a husband to an amazing woman, a father of three awesome kids, and a pastor of a loving church. My goal in life is to glorify God as I draw people closer to Christ with every breath and step I take.